Need urgent care? Don’t go to A&E, say nurses

THE majority of patients who go to A&E could well be seen in the Urgent Care Centre, according to centre matron Jo Boyd.

While many people still see A&E as their first port of call in any medical emergency or when they are unable to book an appointment with their GP, other services like the Urgent Care Centre, next door to A&E at Great Western Hospital, could provide them with the help they need.

A total of 2,360 people attended the Urgent Care Centre, run by social enterprise SEQOL, in May compared to 1,145 the previous year.

Last winter, the most challenging in history for the hospital, saw 27,565 people attend A&E between October and December.

Many were then referred back to the urgent care service and could have avoided a protracted wait if they had gone to the nurse-led centre immediately.

While urgent and serious conditions may require emergency care, sore throats or abdominal pain can be easily treated at the centre.

“Patients who could be seen by their GP but maybe have had difficulty getting an appointment should be the ones coming here,” Jo said.

“The hospital will also refer them to us and between peak times we even have a nurse present in A&E who identifies patients and sees whether it would be more appropriate for them to be seen here.

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“When you are unwell and a child is unwell it’s difficult to know what is urgent or an emergency and there is a very thin line. But we try to educate patients when they come in.”

The Urgent Care Centre runs several services.

As well as the 24/7 walk-in clinic, it operates an out-of-hours GP service which is open from 6.30pm to 8am and has a dedicated phone line – 01793 646466 – the equivalent of 111 in the rest of the country.

It also includes a rapid response team which cares for people in the community and three specialist pathways: The deep-vein thrombosis, male acute urinary retention and cellulitis services.

It was previously known as the Clover Unit.

Hstorically many patients were admitted to A&E, then on to a ward and kept in hospital for several days, the Urgent Care Centre has allowed the majority to be treated in a few hours then go home.

The elderly especially can then receive additional help from the rapid response team at home.

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“It’s about being treating the right condition in the right place and at the right time,” said Jo. “We make sure people are seen quickly and in the most appropriate place.

“We find when patients are sent to the urgent care centre from A&E, they actually come straight here the next time.”

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Comments (18)

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?DiDiDI

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

Score: 9

Donatello46 says...9:37am Thu 3 Jul 14

I absolutely agree, I have had cause to use the Urgent Care Centre and it is a brilliant facility, the staff were friendly, helpful and capable and the waiting time was significantly shorter than A&E. For any acute flare up of a chronic condition , as in my case, it's absolutely the right place to go, of course, for significant accidents or true emergencies, A&E is still the proper place. Well done people.

I absolutely agree, I have had cause to use the Urgent Care Centre and it is a brilliant facility, the staff were friendly, helpful and capable and the waiting time was significantly shorter than A&E.
For any acute flare up of a chronic condition , as in my case, it's absolutely the right place to go, of course, for significant accidents or true emergencies, A&E is still the proper place.
Well done people.Donatello46

I absolutely agree, I have had cause to use the Urgent Care Centre and it is a brilliant facility, the staff were friendly, helpful and capable and the waiting time was significantly shorter than A&E. For any acute flare up of a chronic condition , as in my case, it's absolutely the right place to go, of course, for significant accidents or true emergencies, A&E is still the proper place. Well done people.

Score: 4

EastleazeRed says...10:09am Thu 3 Jul 14

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

[quote][p][bold]DiDiDI[/bold] wrote:
All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .EastleazeRed

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

Score: 3

Hmmmf says...10:16am Thu 3 Jul 14

Adver wrote…

THE majority of patients who go to A&E could well be seen in the Urgent Care Centre, according to centre matron Jo Boyd.[/quote]

The College of Emergency Medicine president Dr Clifford Mann [/bold] said: The fact that only 15% of attendees at emergency departments could be safely redirected to a primary care clinician without the need for emergency department assessment is a statistic that must be heeded by those who wish to reconfigure services.[/quote]

The College of Emergency Medicine review[/bold] stated: 85% of patients needed to be seen in A&E. Of the 15 per cent of people who could be seen by a GP the following day, the largest subgroup were young children presenting with symptoms of minor illness.[/quote] Who do you believe? Experts presenting hard clinical data, or a matron from an NHS hospital desperate to get its A&E waiting times down?

[quote][p][bold]Adver[/bold] wrote:
THE majority of patients who go to A&E could well be seen in the Urgent Care Centre, according to centre matron Jo Boyd.[/quote]
[quote][p][bold]The College of Emergency Medicine president Dr Clifford Mann [/bold] said:
The fact that only 15% of attendees at emergency departments could be safely redirected to a primary care clinician without the need for emergency department assessment is a statistic that must be heeded by those who wish to reconfigure services.[/quote]
[quote][p][bold]The College of Emergency Medicine review[/bold] stated:
85% of patients needed to be seen in A&E.
Of the 15 per cent of people who could be seen by a GP the following day, the largest subgroup were young children presenting with symptoms of minor illness.[/quote]
Who do you believe? Experts presenting hard clinical data, or a matron from an NHS hospital desperate to get its A&E waiting times down?Hmmmf

Adver wrote…

THE majority of patients who go to A&E could well be seen in the Urgent Care Centre, according to centre matron Jo Boyd.[/quote]

The College of Emergency Medicine president Dr Clifford Mann [/bold] said: The fact that only 15% of attendees at emergency departments could be safely redirected to a primary care clinician without the need for emergency department assessment is a statistic that must be heeded by those who wish to reconfigure services.[/quote]

The College of Emergency Medicine review[/bold] stated: 85% of patients needed to be seen in A&E. Of the 15 per cent of people who could be seen by a GP the following day, the largest subgroup were young children presenting with symptoms of minor illness.[/quote] Who do you believe? Experts presenting hard clinical data, or a matron from an NHS hospital desperate to get its A&E waiting times down?

Score: 2

Big Time says...10:23am Thu 3 Jul 14

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

It depends how bad the pain is, if it's unbearable then it's an emergency and supposedly the dark times of people suffering in silence at home are over. A&E is just that an accident and emergency service when people need it and they should stop trying to pass the buck if they can't cope and blow the whistle on their lack of funding and attack the right targets.

[quote][p][bold]EastleazeRed[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]DiDiDI[/bold] wrote:
All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .[/p][/quote]It depends how bad the pain is, if it's unbearable then it's an emergency and supposedly the dark times of people suffering in silence at home are over. A&E is just that an accident and emergency service when people need it and they should stop trying to pass the buck if they can't cope and blow the whistle on their lack of funding and attack the right targets.Big Time

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

It depends how bad the pain is, if it's unbearable then it's an emergency and supposedly the dark times of people suffering in silence at home are over. A&E is just that an accident and emergency service when people need it and they should stop trying to pass the buck if they can't cope and blow the whistle on their lack of funding and attack the right targets.

Score: 6

swindondad says...11:38am Thu 3 Jul 14

I have used the OOH GP service at the Urgent Care Centre (about a month ago) and I have to say that it was first rate.

I have used the OOH GP service at the Urgent Care Centre (about a month ago) and I have to say that it was first rate.swindondad

I have used the OOH GP service at the Urgent Care Centre (about a month ago) and I have to say that it was first rate.

Score: 5

house on the hill says...11:42am Thu 3 Jul 14

Big Time wrote…

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

It depends how bad the pain is, if it's unbearable then it's an emergency and supposedly the dark times of people suffering in silence at home are over. A&E is just that an accident and emergency service when people need it and they should stop trying to pass the buck if they can't cope and blow the whistle on their lack of funding and attack the right targets.

I guess also different people will have different levels of pain thresholds and also their definition of serious. When you have so many choices, stay at home, see your GP in the morning, go to Carfax and see a GP, phone for a duty doctor to call, go to Urgent Care centre, go to A & E, there will always be different people making different choices, it is never going to be perfect. And what do you call the right targets? The Govt who control the money? The hospitals who don't run them very well? The public who in far too many cases don't bother to look after themselves properly and increase the pressure on the NHS? Probably all of the above in reality.

[quote][p][bold]Big Time[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]EastleazeRed[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]DiDiDI[/bold] wrote:
All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .[/p][/quote]It depends how bad the pain is, if it's unbearable then it's an emergency and supposedly the dark times of people suffering in silence at home are over. A&E is just that an accident and emergency service when people need it and they should stop trying to pass the buck if they can't cope and blow the whistle on their lack of funding and attack the right targets.[/p][/quote]I guess also different people will have different levels of pain thresholds and also their definition of serious. When you have so many choices, stay at home, see your GP in the morning, go to Carfax and see a GP, phone for a duty doctor to call, go to Urgent Care centre, go to A & E, there will always be different people making different choices, it is never going to be perfect.
And what do you call the right targets? The Govt who control the money? The hospitals who don't run them very well? The public who in far too many cases don't bother to look after themselves properly and increase the pressure on the NHS? Probably all of the above in reality.house on the hill

Big Time wrote…

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

It depends how bad the pain is, if it's unbearable then it's an emergency and supposedly the dark times of people suffering in silence at home are over. A&E is just that an accident and emergency service when people need it and they should stop trying to pass the buck if they can't cope and blow the whistle on their lack of funding and attack the right targets.

I guess also different people will have different levels of pain thresholds and also their definition of serious. When you have so many choices, stay at home, see your GP in the morning, go to Carfax and see a GP, phone for a duty doctor to call, go to Urgent Care centre, go to A & E, there will always be different people making different choices, it is never going to be perfect. And what do you call the right targets? The Govt who control the money? The hospitals who don't run them very well? The public who in far too many cases don't bother to look after themselves properly and increase the pressure on the NHS? Probably all of the above in reality.

Score: 5

MrAngry says...12:24pm Thu 3 Jul 14

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

Unless it is caused by a blood clot, in which case it is potentially fatal.

[quote][p][bold]EastleazeRed[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]DiDiDI[/bold] wrote:
All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .[/p][/quote]Unless it is caused by a blood clot, in which case it is potentially fatal.MrAngry

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

Unless it is caused by a blood clot, in which case it is potentially fatal.

Score: 12

Robh says...12:37pm Thu 3 Jul 14

Why do ambulances always take you to A&E??

Why do ambulances always take you to A&E??Robh

Why do ambulances always take you to A&E??

Score: 0

DiDiDI says...1:25pm Thu 3 Jul 14

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

Pain in the leg so bad that the patient can barely walk, of fairly sudden onset...I probably would call that urgent.

[quote][p][bold]EastleazeRed[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]DiDiDI[/bold] wrote:
All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .[/p][/quote]Pain in the leg so bad that the patient can barely walk, of fairly sudden onset...I probably would call that urgent.DiDiDI

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

Pain in the leg so bad that the patient can barely walk, of fairly sudden onset...I probably would call that urgent.

Score: 11

Sandor Clegane says...2:36pm Thu 3 Jul 14

70 million people, all potentially demanding immediate, high level, expensive medical treatment and care at the drop of a hat and at no (additional) charge. Let's face it,it's no wonder it doesn't really work.

70 million people, all potentially demanding immediate, high level, expensive medical treatment and care at the drop of a hat and at no (additional) charge.
Let's face it,it's no wonder it doesn't really work.Sandor Clegane

70 million people, all potentially demanding immediate, high level, expensive medical treatment and care at the drop of a hat and at no (additional) charge. Let's face it,it's no wonder it doesn't really work.

Score: 2

messyits says...4:27pm Thu 3 Jul 14

Sandor Clegane wrote…

70 million people, all potentially demanding immediate, high level, expensive medical treatment and care at the drop of a hat and at no (additional) charge. Let's face it,it's no wonder it doesn't really work.

70m--in Swindon?

[quote][p][bold]Sandor Clegane[/bold] wrote:
70 million people, all potentially demanding immediate, high level, expensive medical treatment and care at the drop of a hat and at no (additional) charge.
Let's face it,it's no wonder it doesn't really work.[/p][/quote]70m--in Swindon?messyits

Sandor Clegane wrote…

70 million people, all potentially demanding immediate, high level, expensive medical treatment and care at the drop of a hat and at no (additional) charge. Let's face it,it's no wonder it doesn't really work.

70m--in Swindon?

Score: 3

Oldtownmum says...5:32pm Thu 3 Jul 14

With constant relocations and name changes I'd have no idea where to go out of hours. It seems to be a different place every few months. They need consistency and they need advertising.

With constant relocations and name changes I'd have no idea where to go out of hours. It seems to be a different place every few months. They need consistency and they need advertising.Oldtownmum

With constant relocations and name changes I'd have no idea where to go out of hours. It seems to be a different place every few months. They need consistency and they need advertising.

Score: 3

beach1e says...8:55pm Thu 3 Jul 14

the one at Carfax is such a dump i wouldnt recommend it to anyone, so i hope this one is better

the one at Carfax is such a dump i wouldnt recommend it to anyone, so i hope this one is betterbeach1e

the one at Carfax is such a dump i wouldnt recommend it to anyone, so i hope this one is better

Score: 2

Oldtownmum says...7:53am Fri 4 Jul 14

beach1e wrote…

the one at Carfax is such a dump i wouldnt recommend it to anyone, so i hope this one is better

Agree, horrible building and location. I used to work there 10 yrs ago. I'd chew my own leg off rather than attend there!

[quote][p][bold]beach1e[/bold] wrote:
the one at Carfax is such a dump i wouldnt recommend it to anyone, so i hope this one is better[/p][/quote]Agree, horrible building and location. I used to work there 10 yrs ago. I'd chew my own leg off rather than attend there!Oldtownmum

beach1e wrote…

the one at Carfax is such a dump i wouldnt recommend it to anyone, so i hope this one is better

Agree, horrible building and location. I used to work there 10 yrs ago. I'd chew my own leg off rather than attend there!

Score: 1

avo says...4:43pm Fri 4 Jul 14

See the usual suspects are here spouting their latest episode of recreational outrage.

See the usual suspects are here spouting their latest episode of recreational outrage.avo

See the usual suspects are here spouting their latest episode of recreational outrage.

Score: 0

nigelej says...4:29pm Sat 5 Jul 14

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

To be fair pain in the leg can infact be a killer so I would without doubt get the best attention needed .

[quote][p][bold]EastleazeRed[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]DiDiDI[/bold] wrote:
All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .[/p][/quote]To be fair pain in the leg can infact be a killer so I would without doubt get the best attention needed .nigelej

EastleazeRed wrote…

DiDiDI wrote…

All very good, but when I took my husband there when he had pains in his leg, they sent us to Carfax! So do they want people to self-refer to this unit or don't they?

To be fair pain in the leg is hardly urgent care ? Unless you can see your g.p. carfax street should always be the first port of call , or call the nhs help line who will assess symptoms over the phone and guide you from there .

To be fair pain in the leg can infact be a killer so I would without doubt get the best attention needed .

Score: 0

messyits says...7:01pm Sun 6 Jul 14

A very good friend of mine with serious health problems has used the service to have doctors attend him out of hours--unfortunately despite the visits by a doctor specialising in his condition ordering a visit to hospital--he was returned home and died a few days later of an illness not related to his illness--his age was the problem it seems. Why indeed should a 65 years old man have no attempt to solve a basic problem treated that caused his premature death?

A very good friend of mine with serious health problems has used the service to have doctors attend him out of hours--unfortunately despite the visits by a doctor specialising in his condition ordering a visit to hospital--he was returned home and died a few days later of an illness not related to his illness--his age was the problem it seems. Why indeed should a 65 years old man have no attempt to solve a basic problem treated that caused his premature death?messyits

A very good friend of mine with serious health problems has used the service to have doctors attend him out of hours--unfortunately despite the visits by a doctor specialising in his condition ordering a visit to hospital--he was returned home and died a few days later of an illness not related to his illness--his age was the problem it seems. Why indeed should a 65 years old man have no attempt to solve a basic problem treated that caused his premature death?

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